Recently, Shell has organised an event in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London to offer curious minds of all ages a glimpse into the global energy future. This event featured live science shows, amazing display of cars of the future and consisted of variety of innovations.
Globally, we are using more energy than ever before. At the same time, the significance of climate change means the world has to reduce Co2 emissions. We need innovative thinking to make today’s energy go further and to find cleaner energy to take us towards a low-carbon world.
The idea of the event was to generate great ideas that come from conversation, collaboration, partnerships; with great minds coming together. We, as a family were part of their journey to experience the low-carbon future, see the new ideas and innovations from across the whole world of energy.
Energy Future:
The world never stops; energy keeps it moving. It is vital to move people and goods, power and heat our homes, build and improve our roads and produce all the materials essential to everyday life.
As an example, London transport system uses nearly 11,120 Gigajoules an hour. That is equivalent to powering a 60W lightbulb for 61,390 years!
So, how could we produce energy from this world that doesn’t stop and additionally experience the low-carbon future? And consequently one idea could change the world!
There are various sources that could generate energy to the thriving society, but we need to find an optimal mix of energies to reduce carbon emissions.
The energy sources that are available these days are nuclear power, hydro power, wind power, coal power, solar power, and so on. So, what happens if we could turn motor ways into energy highways? or if we could turn the streets in the city into energy streets while walking on the pavements? or if the turbines could turn the wind energy into street lighting? or perhaps, the solar panels could turn the energy into heating our houses?
There are almost 1.1 billion people in this world that live without Electricity. Some of these ideas could provide people without Electricity to gain access to lighting.
The football living legend Pelé himself has taken the Energy Challenge during the event with an idea of “Power The Field”, where enough energy will be generated to power the houses around the football field using special sheets of layer placed in the pitch that transforms kinetic energy into electric energy.
The idea itself is a simple one, but it would change the lives of people. The same idea could be applied in urban areas where it could be used to power the street lights, shops and many more without leaving carbon footprints. A treadmill in a gym could power the lights in the gym.
Biofuels:
The alternative fuels like biofuels are a product of biological process instead of geological process. These can be generated directly from plants or indirectly from agricultural, commercial, domestic or industrial wastage.
In Scotland, Barley is used in Whiskey making process, but only 10% of it used to make the spirit, where as 90% of is treated as wastage. This wastage is typically used either to feed the animals or dumped in landfill as waste.
How we could benefit from generating biofuels from such wastage? One of the ideas as part of the event was to use the by-product of Barley to convert into a biofuel like Ethanol. This can be used as fuel for vehicles. The worldwide production of biofuels is increased and this has led to a flourishing automotive industry, where a lot of countries are producing cars with a hybrid fuel system of bioethanol.
Low-Carbon future:
In addition to meeting the energy demands of the world, it also needs to reduce Co2 emissions. The Co2 emissions have a profound impact on Global Warming. What if we could put carbon back underground?
Shell Canada works with a lot of other partners to implement that idea, which will reduce the overall Co2 emissions so we all can dream of low-carbon future.
Burning coal generates a lot of Co2 emissions. Why can’t we generate a material similar to coal that is a by-product of wastage that could be used as alternative to coal?
Again, this is entirely possible! A barbecue stall in the event was using the alternative material generated from
wastage as efficient as coal.
Shell Eco-Marathon:
The main event of the day, the marathon aimed to challenge students from around the globe to design, build and drive the most efficient car.
The student teams took to the track to see who went the furthest on the least amount of fuel. For example, how can we go to Rome from London by just using one litre of fuel.
For the first time in its 30-year history, it introduced the ’Drivers’ World Championship’. The championships consisted of the world’s best UrbanConcept cars. They battle it out to see which car is most energy-efficient.
An Indonesian team won the race in the grand final and a French team took second and an American team came third.
The Cars of the Future:
How can we build most energy-efficient car? How can we make our journeys more intelligent? How can we change the way we move around? These ideas are the driving force of the cars of the future, which are on display at the event.
To make the most energy-efficient car, it needs to be aerodynamic and light.
To make our journeys more intelligent, we could add IoT (Internet of Things), this enables us to communicate with each other via the intelligent environment of IoT. This makes our roads safer, minimises congestion and create a more energy efficient journey.
To change the way we move around, people are exploring the potential of having self-drive vehicles. This will get us to destinations quicker and gives us free time in the car.
Autonomous UrbanConcept vehicles are an inspiration for the Eco-Marathon participants to shape the future of mobility.
Hydrogen Cars are also an innovative way of transport. By using water, we can obtain Hydrogen to power our vehicles and there will no carbon footprints! Linde, Shell and Toyota have collaborated to power a new era of energy-efficient car like Mirai.
The Finale:
The event was concluded with an exclusive performance by Pixie Lott with a song called ‘Best Day of My Life’. This song was collaborated with Shell and the video song that is due in September will feature seven ideas that it has endorsed. ‘Best Day of My Life’ will keep lingering in our brains until we get home!
And consequently, the event was a real pinnacle of an energy efficient lifestyle. It provides a sheer abundance of opportunities for young engineers that want to put their ideas through. This event really helps to generate ideas and one day those ideas could become innovations. What if your idea could change the world?
Interesting topic and wonderful ideas Ramesh. Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing